Henry e



(K0 Model.)

I H. E. NEWTON. V AUTOMATIGALLY OPENING BOOK.

No. 558,203. PatentedApn 14, 1896.

M/VEA/TOR WITNESSES Afro/wa AN DREW 5 GRANAM, PHOTOUTHQWASMINGTGN, n.c.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. NEVVFON, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AARON M. OZMUN, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATICALLY-OPENING BOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,203, dated April 14, 1896.-

Application filed September 30,1895. Serial No. 564,241. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY E. NEWTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automaticall y-Opening Books, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description or specification, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings and the letters marked thereon, forming part of this my said specification.

This invention has for its object to'facilitate, by means of a book which is suspended by a string or cord at its upper end and is provided with a handle for holding it at its lower end, the finding of places, advertisements, railway time-tables, notices of public amusements, places of interest, and all other such objects which visitors to any city may desire readily to find and inform themselves fully in respect of, either at railway-stations, hotels, restaurants, or other places of public resort, while it is also designed for exhibiting samples of woven or other fabrics.

The apparatus constituting this invention consists of a central body, whose upper end is suspended by a cord, chain, or its equivalent from a frame or from any other suitable suspending-point and at its lower end is formed as a handle, whereby it can be taken hold of by the person seeking for the information which the book contains. To that portion of the central body situated between the point of suspension and the handle any desired number of leaves formed of cardboard or other suitable stiff material are attached hingewise by means of girders of flexible materialsuch as cloth, leather, or the like while the essential feature of the invention consists in connecting every pair of such leaves together on both sides thereof and therefore each to the other by a pair of elastic straps which pass through holes, two in each leaf of the book, and every adjacent pair of which-that is to say, the pair passed through the holes in the two leaves next each other are tied together at their centers. When the automatically-opened book is held in an inclined or horizontal position, the upper pair of leaves by their own weight lie horizontally or nearly horizontally open or approximately as horizontally open as possible to the degree that the elasticity of the elastic straps connecting them near their inner edges will permit of, while the leaves below those at the top or upper surface lie more or less open, as the elastic straps permit, as hereinafter more fully described.

When it is desired to examine the contents of my automatically-openin g book, all that is necessary is to turn the central part of the book round by the application of the hand to the handle which holds it, when the successive leaves of the book which become uppermost lie open in succession and those which lie on a lower plane or beneath become more or less closed together in succession- From this arrangement it follows that the upper leaves of the book always are approximately flat open,so that the contents of those leaves can be read, and on turning the book round by the handle, as hereinbefore described, the contents of the successive leaves can be read and the information which they contain certained.

Upon the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of my new or improved automatically-opened book. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, looking upon the book when held by the handle in a horizontal position. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the same on the line a a, Fig. 2.

My improved automaticallybpening book consists of a central body, preferably cylindrical, (marked A in the accompanying drawings,) and it may be formed of wood,vulcanite, or other equivalently suitable material. At the center of the upper end of this body part the book is suspended by means of a cord B from a frame, bracket, or other suitable wall, ceiling, or floor attachment. The lower part of the central body A is formed with a handle 0, as shown at Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig.1 the hand D is shown as having taken hold of the handle Oand as having lifted the book E to some extent out of the vertical position. The book consists, as shown, of a series of leaves E, which are attached to the cylindrical center body A by means of cloth, paper, or equivalent girders F, (more particularly shown in section at Fig. 3,) which enter into parallel grooves or recesses or equivalent openings cut into the central cylindrical body A, as shown after the manner of girding pictures or plates into the binding of other kinds of books, the girders F being flexible, so as to allow the central leaves to open from or close toward each other.

The leaves E of the book are or may be provided on both sides with any kind of advertising mattersuch as railway time-tables, theater or music-hall advertisements, streetrailway time-tables, records of places of amusements, church services, places of interest, or other information of a public character which tourists and other persons visiting a city or traveling usually desire information uponor they may be used for exhibiting samples of textile or other fabrics.

Every pair of leaves is connected together by means of the elastic bands G, which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, pass through holes 0, formed at the central part and near the inner edge of each leaf of the book. The tendency of the elastic bands G is to draw the several leaves of the book together, but the elasticity of the said bands is such that when the upper leaves lie more or less at an angle, as shown in Fig. 1, or in a horizontal position, as shown in Fig.3, the weight of the leaves E is sufticient to stretch the upper leaves so that they stretch the bands G sufliciently to lie open, as shown in all the figures of the annexed drawings, so that the examiner or user of the automatically-opening book can at once see the contents of both the upper pages, and on the said book being further turned round by the action of the hand D, applied to the handle 0, in either direction the next pair of pages auto matically open as the uppermost pair shown in the annexed drawings, and in this way, by turning the entire book around in either direction, the contents of every one of the pages E of the book are in the same manner open to inspection.

Having now described the nature of my said invention and the best system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used or carried into practical effect, I desire to observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original and as the invention to be secured to me by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. An automatically-openin g book whose central part consists of a more or less cylindrical body, the upper end of which is attached bya cord or equivalent suspension to a frame, bracket, hook, or other equivalent suspending device, whose lower end constitutes a handle whereby the book is taken hold of by the user thereof, the cylindrical or equivalently-shaped part of which has leaves of cardboard or equivalent material, attached thereto hingewise, and every pair of which leaves are at or near their central portions and at a short distance from their hinged inner edges, connected together by elastic bands or straps whose elasticity is such that the uppermost leaves, by their own weight opposed to the elasticity of their connections, lie sufficiently open that the contents of their pages may be read and whose lower leaves by the action of gravity and by the additional action of the elasticity of the aforesaid bands are drawn more or less closely together, all operating in the manner substantially as hereinbefore described and shown upon the annexed sheet of drawings.

2. The combination of a suspended central body formed with a handle at its lower end of a series of hinged leaves attached to said central body, the said leaves carrying printed or pictorial matter or samples thereon, and connected together near theirinner edges and at the central portions thereof by elastic bands,whose elasticityis such that the weight of the upper leaves of the said book is such as to stretch the bands sufficiently to enable the upper leaves to lie open while the action of gravity and the elasticity of the bands beneath tend to draw the remainder of the leaves more or less close together, all operating in the manner and for the purposes substantially as set forth.

Dated Los Angeles, California, this 10th day of July, 1895.

HENRY E. NEWTON.

\Vitnesses:

H. S. RoLLINs, ST. JOHN DAY. 

